Club recruiters encouraged to attend All Stars match

AFL club recruiters have been encouraged to attend an indigenous player camp and All Stars match in a bid to improve their understanding of the challenges facing Aboriginal footballers.

The three-day camp, to be conducted by the AFL Players Association and its Indigenous Players Advisory Board, will be held in Alice Springs between February 5-7 and feature the league's 67 indigenous players.

There will be much to debate, with the number of indigenous players slipping from 11 per cent to 9 per cent after the national and rookie drafts. Improving the pathways for players, already an issue being addressed by the league, will be a major topic. Richmond will play the indigenous All Stars two days later at Traeger Park.

The AFL's primary indigenous administrator Jason Mifsud said the week-long event would be beneficial for all parties.

"In addition to the All Stars program, we are again inviting key staff from AFL clubs to attend to further develop their capacity and cultural understanding of indigenous people," he said.

The All Stars will be coached by former Swan Michael O'Loughlin, with his assistants Troy Cook, Roger Hayden and Andrew McLeod.

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